The final day of CAUSINDY 2026 opened at Telkom University with a sense of both anticipation and reflection. Rio Afifuddin, CAUSINDY Director, set the tone with a reminder that the week had been about more than panels and presentations. “Not just panels and presentations, but the coffee, the bus rides, and the conversations that happened in between”. Muhammad Almaududi Pulungan welcomed delegates on behalf of Telkom University, expressing genuine hope that the relationship between CAUSINDY and Telkom would extend well beyond the week, before officially declaring the final day open to warm applause.
CAUSINDY Collab Presentations
The morning’s centrepiece was the CAUSINDY Collab Presentations, the culmination of four days of group work that had evolved, pivoted, and sharpened with each passing session. Facilitated by Callum Trainor, CAUSINDY Program manager, the five groups took to the stage to present proposals that were as diverse as the delegates themselves.
Group 1 – Hiji
Presented a bilingual children’s digital book following two characters, Sekar from coastal eastern Indonesia and Sarah from northern Australia, who exchange stories about climate and energy through the shared lens of agriculture. The structure was deliberately reciprocal, with both children offering real solutions to each other’s real problems.
Group 2 – Community Energy Stories Exchange
Tackled the problem of misinformation and public distrust around energy transition projects, proposing a platform of short video stories and community case studies shared through WhatsApp and community screenings.
Group 3 – Suara Timur
Addressed a gap the conference had not directly confronted until this point: person with disabilities have the highest energy dependency of any population group yer are never consulted in energy policy design. Their proposal centered on a structured focus group in Makassar, designed with a full GEDSI integration and participants positioned as co-authors rather than data sources.
Group 4 – Plie Team
Brought both humour and urgency to the stage with Dumb Ways to Fry, a creative safety campaign modelled on Australia’s Dumb Ways to Die, using animated music videos to teach communities how to use batteries and electrification technologies safely. Their opening question to the audience landed immediately: how many of you have slept with your phone charging next to your head? Most hands went up.
“A just energy transition isn’t only about access to technology. It’s about ensuring people have knowledge and confidence to use it safely”.
Group 5 – SPARK
Addressed a specific and documented failure: solar PV installations in rural eastern Indonesia being abandoned not because the technology fails, but because no one locally knows how to maintain them. Their training-of-trainer program connecting Australian TAFE mentors to Indonesian vocational school teachers was praised by judges for its specificity and value for money.
When the scores were tallied, Group 2 took first place with 50 points, Group 5 was named runner-up with 49.9 points and the People’s Choice Awards voted on by delegates went to Group 1.
Telkom University Research Showcase
Following the collab presentations, Sudarmono Sasmono, Telkom University, presented the institution’s research on small microgrid systems for isolated Indonesian islands. Opening with a map showing the chain of vulnerability in Indonesia’s centralised grid, where a failure in Java can trigger blackouts in Bali, he made the case for microgrids as the most practical solution for Indonesia’s island geography. The case study centered on Nusa Penida in Bali province, an island rich in solar, wind, and ocean wave resources, where Telkom’s research suggests 100% renewable supply is achievable. It was a fitting complement to the week’s broader discussions, grounding national ambition in a single island’s potential.
Panel 4: Financing and Driving Entrepreneurship for the Renewable Energy Transition
The final panel of the conference brought the week’s financial dimension into sharp focus, moderated by Jordan Zele, Rebel Group International. Diyanto Imam, PT New Energy Nexus Indonesia, framed his organisation’s mission as building durable systemic change rather than one-off projects, noting that creating green jobs in regional Indonesia remains the hardest challenge of all. “Entrepreneurs cannot do that by themselves. It needs government, the private sector, it needs all of Indonesia”, he said.
Artika Benedikta, Indonesia Impact Alliance, describes a structural mismatch at the heart of the investment landscape: investors complain about the absence of quality pipeline while entrepreneurs find available instruments too short-term and too rigid. She argued what is needed are longer-term, more flexible structures that allow sustainable businesses to develop without being forced into a venture capital model that does not fit them. Kanya Stira Sjahrir, BUMA International, brought the workforce dimension into view, arguing that renewable energy projects too often overlook the people who make them work. Her organisation requires that participants have long-term jobs after a project ends, not just during the project.
One of the most pointed exchanges of the conference came when an Australian delegate asked what can realistically be done about the patronage networks and bureaucratic complexity that prevent Australian investment from flowing into Indonesia. Diyanto honestly admits that they need a reliable intermediary who knows the market. Jordan Zele offered a useful corrective: Indonesians investing in Australia face equally frustrating obstacles. “Governments come and go”, Diyanto added.
Conference Closing
The formal closing was warm, direct, and honest. Iona Main thanked delegates and sponsors before leaving them with a simple but clear message: “Your success is our success. Keep the dream alive. Don’t forget what you’ve learned, the connections you’ve made, and really bottle the motivation you’ve felt the last few days.”
Two delegates spoke from the floor. Byanmara reflected on what the week had produced, a group of diverse people brought together in a way that will not happen again in quite the same way, and left the room with a quiet image: she hoped everyone could make a little sunshine in the rain and storms ahead. Nick, an Australian delegate, kept it warm but honest. A week like this, he said, leaves you with more questions than you arrived with, and that is exactly as it should be. More than anything, it is the relationships that stay with you.
One Last Stop: The Aussie Banget Corner
Although the conference had formally closed, delegates took up Telkom University’s invitation to visit the Open Library and its Aussie Banget Corner, a dedicated space of Australian books, resources, and a teddy kangaroo. Delegates gathered for one last photo, a fitting end to a week spent at the intersection of two countries. The conference was over, but the conversations it had started were only just beginning.